RA Planning for Purposeful Talk and the Construction of Meaning

Title: The Grasshopper and the Ants Author: Eric Carle Name: Molly Davies
Cooperating Teacher/Grade: Irvin, 1 Date: 03/05/2019
Remember to do these things with the read aloud:
 Read your book several times and practice! Read with expression and fluency. (Be sure you know how to pronounce all the
words)!
 Set an intent for your readers as a way of guiding their thinking.
 Think aloud and/or reread when there are confusing parts of the text or when there are misunderstandings
 Allow space for students to bring up their own questions and comments, but be sure the conversation is about the text. (See
Nichols)
 Give the students time to look at the illustrations
 Build in some questions and attention to multiple perspectives and critical thinking
 Be flexible.
Deeper meaning in text: Big ideas, or critical understandings What will you do or say before you read the story?
you think children should construct (either in this read, or over  Read the Title and Author
several reads):  Preteach vocabulary or concepts (up to 3 words):

Grasshopper plays an instrument all summer long while  Hibernation

ants are hard at work collecting food for winter. When  Abundance
winter comes, grasshopper doesn’t have food while the
ants have an abundance. Will the ants help the Set an intention:
grasshopper?
Let’s see if the hardworking ants help the grasshopper get food.
Standard(s):
Key ideas and details.
 Logical inferences
 Draw conclusions
 Determine central ideas
 Summary
Stopping Place (choose places that support
students in thinking about the big ideas,
themes, or critical understandings)
Include page # or phrase, and prompt (turn
and talk, share out, act it out, think aloud,
stop and jot, draw it out)
“The ants, on the other hand, worked…”
“His stomach was empty, so he went from
ant house to ant house…”
Differentiation Instructional Support (including language
support, content support, extensions): (What are you going to
DO for the kiddos in your class?)
Reason for stopping If talk doesn’t get beyond the surface, what
What are the kinds of things you hope scaffold will you use to get them talking
students will be saying (if they are
beginning to understand the big ideas)?
What does this say about the ants?
Synthesizing information
What does the grasshopper do to try to find Comprehension
food? Does this work at first? Prior Knowledge
“Before the grasshopper could say a How do you think this made the Comprehension
word…” grasshopper feel?